Amrit Medhekar
Amrit Jayant Medhekar, MVC, UYSM, SM (Sanskrit: अमृत जयंत मेधेकर; August 13, 1917 - December 17, 2008) was a highly-decorated Indian Army officer who distinguished himself in many conflicts involving India, most notably World War II and the Indo-Pakistani Wars. Early life and family Medhekar was born in the city of Nandurbar in the state of Maharashtra in British-controlled India in 1917. He was born into an upper-caste Hindu family, historically Kshatriya (the second of four classes in the Varna system) and ethnically and linguistically Marathi. His father, Jayant Navin Medhekar (1882-1964) was a government administrator for Nandurbar District, in charge of maintaining public health. In 1931, he was fired from his position and took his family to Bombay in hopes of finding work as a surgeon, in which he was successful. Medhekar was accepted into the University of Bombay at just 17 years old in 1934, and began to study medicine at Grant Medical College. Near the end of his second year, Medhekar was failing most of his classes and was expelled from the school. Rather than return to his family, he chose to immediately enlist in the British Indian Army. Military service Waziristan Campaign In the Army, Medhekar underwent training as a Sepoy (Private) in the infantry. He stood out as a soldier and was quickly promoted to Lance Naik (Lance Corporal). At the time, India's active North-West Frontier was under threat from groups of anti-British Pashtun tribesmen. The Army dispatched several forces to hunt them down, beginning in 1936. Lance Naik Medhekar was among the first contingent to go, and his force was garrisoned at the town of Razmak. The Indian troops' first mission was to march through the Khaisora Valley in order to reestablish Indian control. However, in their march to Bichhe Kashkai, they came under attack from the tribesmen and Medhekar and the men fought through heavy opposition to reach the village. After this engagement, the hostile tribesmen grew in strength, and maintained an active insurgency throughout the region. Medhekar and the Indian troops, based in Razmak, attempted many times to search out and destroy the enemy in 1937, but were always unsuccessful. However, a change in strategy enabled the Indians to clear insurgent-controlled villages, and by 1938, the tribesmen lost most of their military power. Aside from some more occasional attacks, the frontier quieted down and there was little activity in the coming months. In April 1939, Medhekar, who had been promoted to Havildar (Sergeant), was returned to Bombay. World War II Back in Bombay, Medhekar recieved a direct commission from the Viceroy of India and was made a Jemadar (Lieutenant). This was partially in recognition of his exemplary service on the frontier, and also because Medhekar's father himself penned a letter to the Viceroy. He was ordered to join the 4th Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles, part of the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. The 5th Brigade soon shipped out for Egypt, to augment the British Commonwealth forces stationed there. In September 1939, Great Britain declared war against Nazi Germany, and so India went to war. The Indian Army was little prepared to fight a major war at this time, so it was up to the already deployed soldiers like Medhekar to fight the enemy. In October, the Indian forces in Egypt were grouped together into the 4th Indian Infantry Division, a combat-ready formation. On June 10, 1940, the Italian Empire declared war on Britain. Instead of immediately going after the Italians in Libya, the 4th Division as well as the rest of the British forces were ordered to make defensive preparations. However, Jemadar Medhekar and the other Indian troops often crossed over into Italian territory in small raids. It wasn't until August when the Italians began building up their forces, and it was only later in September when they commenced their invasion of Egypt, Operation E. The Italians only managed to take a small amount of territory before they stopped, and Medhekar and his men prepared to counterattack. In Operation Compass, begun in December 1940, the Indians attacked the enemy perimeter. Medhekar led his men to take the fortified camps of Nibeiwa and Tummar, driving the Italians from their positions. They continued the advance, fighting the Battle of Sidi Barrani and pushing the Italians out of Egypt almost entirely. After this battle, the 4th Division was relieved and sent to East Africa. The division joined other Indian forces in the Sudan in late December, in order to prevent the Italian forces from threatening the British position in Egypt. There, they joined the Allied advance into Eritrea. In February 1941, Medhekar and his men attacked in the Battle of Keren, capturing Dologorodoc and pushing through the Scescilembi Valley toward Acqua Col, taking it from the Italians shortly after. However, they were pushed back by an Italian counterattack and forced to regroup before attacking again and taking the col permanently. In March, a second assault was made, with the Indians attacking the mountain peaks held by the Italians. After a series of fierce attacks and counterattacks, Jemadar Medhekar and the rest of the 4th Division succeeded in breaking the Italian hold over the area, with Medhekar and his men securing their last objective of Sanchil. With the campaign in East Africa coming to a close, the Indians were returned to the Western Desert front. Hurried back to North Africa in the wake of a major German offensive, the Indians prepared to counterattack. In Operation Battleaxe, aimed at lifting the Siege of Tobruk, Jemadar Medhekar led his men to attack the German positions on Halfaya Pass, but were repulsed multiple times throughout June. A German advance forced the British into retreat, and Medhekar pulled back a significant ways to the Halfway House objective. The operation was a failure and Eastern Cyrenaica remained in Axis hands for the time. The Commonwealth forces launched a second offensive in November 1941 codenamed Operation Crusader. Jemadar Medhekar and the rest of the 5th Brigade were held in reserve until December, when they attacked the Italians at Alam Hamza. They were repulsed from their main objective, but Medhekar managed to lead the capture of Point 204. They continued to attack to no avail, but did succeed in holding Point 204 against a counterattack. However some days later, a massive German and Italian attack overwhelmed their positions on the hill. Medhekar and his men were able to pull back just in time before being cut off and surrounded. After the battle, the Indians consolidated their positions on the Gazala Line in Libya into 1942. In April, the entire 4th Division was relieved, and Medhekar's 5th Brigade was sent to a quiet sector in Syria. The rest ended in June when an Axis penetration of the Allied line into Egypt created a crisis among the British forces. The brigade was hurried back into the line in Egypt, and was immediately engaged at the Battle of Mersa Matruh. Medhekar and his men desperately fought back German attacks for several days before retreating to escape encirclement. Retreating further east into Egypt, the Commonwealth forces prepared a counterattack. Jemadar Medhekar led his men in several attacks against the vital Ruweisat Ridge positions in the First Battle of El Alamein, driving off the Italians and repulsing the Germans when they tried to retake it in several actions throughout July and into August. They continued to hold the ridge in the coming months, and when the British forces launched the Second Battle of El Alamein in October, Medhekar only led a diversionary attack to draw the Germans' attention away from where the breakthrough was taking place. In November, the Indians were committed to an attack against the Rahman track. However, the Axis forces had withdrawn from the area, and the objective was achieved without resistance. The larger Commonwealth offensive had pushed the Axis out of Egypt entirely, and the 4th Division joined to the pursuit of the enemy across Libya. By early 1943, the remaining Axis forces had withdrawn into Tunisia and were holding defensive positions in the eastern part of the country. The 4th Division, which had been split up, was consolidated again in March and was put into action as a part of Operation Pugilist, beginning the Battle of the Mareth Line. Jemadar Medhekar led his men in a night attack against Tallouf, which helped the New Zealand troops in their flanking maneuver. Progress against the German line was slow, but by April, the Allies had broken through and were now advancing north. The Indians caught up with the Germans and Italians in the Battle of Wadi Akarit, where Medhekar and his men stormed the enemy positions on Jebel Fatnassa, capturing it and several of the hills beyond and beating back a German counterattack. The Allied continued the offensive, and in Operation Vulcan, the Indians helped secure Enfidaville and were among the first to enter the capital of Tunis, bringing an end to the North African campaign in May 1943. Also in May, Medhekar was promoted to Subedar (Captain) and sent to the 17th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 8th Indian Infantry Division as a liason officer. He shipped out with the rest of the 8th Division in June 1943, when they were ordered to assault the island of Rhodes in the Dodecanese Islands in the Agean Sea as a part of Operation Accolade. However, the invasion was cancelled at the last minute and the Indian troops were diverted to join the campaign in Italy. Landing in Taranto in September, the division moved north in conjunction with the other Allied armies to assault the Barbara Line. Inland from the Adriatic Sea, Subedar Medhekar and the Indians advanced through steep mountainous terrain, fighting through fiercely-held German positions and crossing the Bifero and Trigno Rivers in October. At the Sangro River Plain, Medhekar joined the attack on Mezzagrogna, pushing the Germans out of the town in fighting that lasted through November. Taking Santa Maria soon after, the Indians continued to advance and took part in the Moro River battles. The 8th Division crossed the river in December and drove the Germans out of Caldari, ensuring a breach in the German defensive line. They attacked Villa Grande shortly after, pushing back the Germans in fierce house-to-house fighting. With the 8th Division advance stopped for the winter and the 4th Division now arrived in Italy, Medhekar was returned to his old unit. The 4th Division moved to the front in January, and was soon committed to an assault on the German positions in the ongoing Battle of Monte Cassino. In February 1944, Operation Avenger kicked off. Subedar Medhekar led his men in an assault on Point 593 on Snakeshead Ridge, and despite fighting ferociously to take the position from the Germans, the assault was a failure. In the third battle in March, Medhekar and his men fought to take Point 236, but were repulsed in a similar fashion as before. The Indian troops had done the best they could, but failed in their objectived and further attacks were called off. With the 4th Division now taken out of the line to rest and recoup, Subedar Medhekar was now permanently transferred to the 17th Brigade of the 8th Division, which was preparing for the final assault on Monte Cassino, Operation Diadem. Medhekar and the rest of the division fought their way across the Garigliano River in the face of stiffening German resistance in May, before continuing their rapid push northwards. The Indian troops took Assisi in June, and then stopped to rest. Back in the fight in July 1944, the 8th Division attacked towards Florence and the Arno River, capturing the city in August and breaking through the Gothic Line. Mountain warfare continued throughout September and November, and Medhekar and his men fought a series of only partially successful battles against the entrenched German defenders in the northern Appenines. By December, Allied troops were advancing the Indians' right flank, and the Germans began to retreat rapidly. At this point, Medhekar and his men were moved to the other side of the peninsula to prevent an Axis breakthrough. In the Battle of Garfagnana, the Indians arrived after the main fighting had took place and stabilized the Allied line, preventing any further loss of territory. In January 1945, the 8th Division was moved to Pisa for a resting period before returning to the line on the Adriatic coast in February. There, they held defensive positions during the winter months and prepared for the final assault of the campaign in Italy. In April 1945, Operation Grapeshot began. In a lightning attack, the Indians forced their way across the Senio River and the Santero River shortly after. Medhekar and his men pushed the Germans out of Ferrara, breaking through into the Po River Valley. Fighting through the crumbling German defenses, the 8th Division crossed the Adige River just before the war in Italy ended on May 2, 1945. The war in Europe ended in an Allied victory just five days later. After the end of hostilities, Subedar Medhekar returned to the 4th Division which had been in Greece since late 1944. The fighting against Greek Communist partisans had long ended, but the Indians were still engaged in occupation duties. Medhekar stayed in Athens until September 1945, when he returned to India. Partition of India Medhekar remained in the British Indian Army after the war, and stayed as a Subedar in the Bombay garrison. However, political decisions made about the future of India and the British Empire would bring on a period of internal strife and intense ethnic violence. With the British on their way out of India, the subcontinent was to be divided between two states: India and Pakistan. The province of Punjab was to be divided as well, between a Muslim province to the west and a Hindu and Sikh province to the east. Violence between the three religious groups was already taking place, and the Indian Army decided to send in a peacekeeping force, formed around the old 4th Division. Medhekar joined the Punjab Boundary Force and journeyed to Punjab with the rest of the division in July 1947. The PBF went into action in August, with the intention of facilitating ethnic migration on both sides of the border. However, the force was ill-prepared to deal with the magnitude of the violence that the partition brought on. Subedar Medhekar and his men tried desperately to hold back the tide of ethnic bloodshed occurring at a horrific rate in the province, but could not prevent the near-genocidal slaughter of the two sides against one another. In September, the PBF was disbanded, having failed in their mission. As India gained independence and split into India and Pakistan, the army was also divided. As a Hindu as well as an Indian patriot, Medhekar joined the new Indian Army and was placed in the 19th Infantry Brigade. First Indo-Pakistani War After the partition, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir declared independence and elected not to join either dominion. However, the state's Muslim subjects wished to join Pakistan and the Pakistani military planned to forcibly annex the state. In October 1947, Pakistani-backed Pathan militias invaded Jammu and Kashmir, and the state appealed to India for help. Subedar Medhekar's 19th Brigade was given the order for rapid deployment, and was airlifted to the Kashmir Valley, arriving on the front lines in early November. The brigade began a counteroffensive in the middle of the month, with the Indian objective to take back Pathan-held territory and relieve the besieged state forces. Advancing from Jammu, Medhekar and his men retook Kotli, but were forced to evacuate the town in the face of a Pathan counterattack. By December, the Indian forces went into defensive positions to wait out the winter. However, Medhekar's unit at Janghar was subjected to a fierce Pathan attack and retreated from the city as it could not be held. Retreating to Naoshera and forming a perimeter around the city, Medhekar and his men fought off the tribesmen in a battle that lasted throughout January. In March 1948, the Indian forces began a second counteroffensive, Operation Vijay. The 19th Brigade advanced on the Naoshera-Rajauri road and Medhekar took part in the recapture of Janghar. After this, they moved northeast, occupying Rajauri in April. By May, the brigade part of the Jammu and Kashmir Division of the Indian Army. In June 1948, the 19th Brigade was ordered to push north to relieve the besieged city of Poonch. Medhekar led his men in a rapid assault against the Pathans from Rajauri, coming close to the outskirts of Poonch but failing to break through. Another attempt was made much later in the year in October, and the brigade attacked again, breaking through the newly-arrived Pakistani regular forces and finally lifting the siege in November. They continued to advance westward, fighting through the Pakistani defences throughout December. With the Pakistanis losing on all fronts, the war ended in a ceasefire on January 1, 1949. Independence era After the end of the fighting in Jammu and Kashmir, Medhekar returned to his home in Bombay. In January 1950, the Republic of India was proclaimed, and the country continued to develop on its own. Meanwhile, Medhekar spent a decade of generally uneventful service in the Bombay garrison. India considered sending forces to South Korea to fight the Communist invasion, and Medhekar was himself considered for the force, but the only Indian forces sent consisted of a medical detachment, and Medhekar remained home. From October 1951 to February 1952, Medhekar and his men oversaw polling security in Bombay during the Indian general election, which resulted in an overwhelming Indian National Congress victory. In 1954, Medhekar was promoted to Major. In 1961, Medhekar was ordered once again to the north of India to join the Indian forces in the Aksai Chin region. However, he was specifically requested to be temporarily attached to the 17th Infantry Division in March, which was at that time preparing to seize the region of Goa from Portuguese control. Annexation of Goa Goa, as well as Daman and the island of Diu, had been under the dominion of the Portuguese colonial empire. As Portugal refused to give up its positions, India prepared to take them by force. The 17th Division commenced its assault on Goa in December 1961 in Operation Vijay, and Medhekar joined the advance, fighting through light and sporadic resistance from the Portuguese. They took Mapuca shortly after crossing the border and continued onwards, crossing the Mandovi River and reaching Panaji, declaring the city liberated the next day. Sino-Indian War With Portugal's overseas possesions firmly in Indian hands, Major Medhekar was cleared for his trip north for his new assignment. By 1962, tensions between India and China had grown significantly over disputed territories on the countries' borders. Medhekar was ordered to report to Indian command in the Aksai Chin region, land claimed by both nations. In October 1962, the People's Republic of China began its invasion of the disputed territories. In Aksai Chin, the Indian forces were already on the backfoot, having most of the land seized prior to the war. Medhekar and his men were caught unprepared, and they tried in vain to hold back the Chinese from the Chip Chap Valley. When his outpost had been overrun, Medhekar and his men retreated to the Rezang La Ridge and again fought desperately against the Chinese forces. Though they barely held the ridge, fighting abruptly stopped for the rest of the month. In mid November, the Chinese resumed their attack. The Indians fought hard to hold Rezang La Ridge, and Medhekar and his men were finally forced to retreat. Withdrawing into the mountains, they prepared to fight the Chinese again, but the war ended as the Chinese had taken the territory they had claimed from the beginning. Major Medhekar remained stationed on the northern border for almost a year, when in 1963 he was ordered to the city of Ambala for a new assignment. Second Indo-Pakistani War At Ambala, Major Medhekar was involved in the raising and organizing of the 4th Mountain Division, a new iteration of the old division he had fought with in World War II. Medhekar joined the 7th Mountain Brigade, and the division assumed responsibility for the defense of Himachal Pradesh. In August 1965, thousands of Pakistani troops covertly crossed the ceasefire line into Kashmir in Operation Gibraltar, intending to fulment a regional uprising against India. When this was discovered, Indian forces, including Major Medhekar and the 4th Division, were hurried to Kashmir to contain the advance. Crossing into the disputed territory in the middle of the month, Medhekar and the Indians swiftly counterattacked the Pakistanis, forcing them back from the border and driving them back into Pakistani territory. However, they were soon forced back to the town of Uri in Kashmir, and there the line stabilized for the next week. In September, Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam, attacking Indian positions all across the front. The 4th Division retreated quickly, leaving the disputed region and moving back into Indian Punjab. There, Medhekar and his men tried to hold the town of Khem Karan, but were forced back again. Farther into Punjab, the division made a stand at the Battle of Asal Uttar. Medhekar and his men repulsed the enemy advance, inflicting extreme losses on the Pakistanis. Counterattacking, they drove the Pakistani forces back into their own territory, helping to capture the city of Sialkot by the middle of the month. On September 23, 1965, the war ended in a stalemate, but with India holding the most captured territory. The Tashkent Declaration in February 1966 would see both sides return to pre-war boundaries. Third Indo-Pakistani War After the war with Pakistan, the 4th Division remained as a garrison force for Himachal Pradesh before going into reserve. Medhekar was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1967, and to full Colonel in 1969. Early in 1971, the division was transferred from the north of India on the far eastern border with East Pakistan. India had been supporting Bangladeshi independence fighters against Pakistan, and as the year ended, the Indians prepared for an invasion of the territory. After Pakistan launched a surprise air assault on India, the Indian Army was given the order to invade East Pakistan. The 4th Division took part in a lighting attack begun in December 1971, with Colonel Medhekar's men rapidly pushing back the Pakistanis, securing Chuadanga and pushing north and defeating them at Kushtia. When this had been accomplished, they continued east and took Faridpur, liberating the whole of Bangladesh. The 4th Division was prepared to move west to strike at Pakistan proper, but a ceasefire was soon declared, just thirteen days after the fighting had begun. Retirement With the Army's mission in Bangladesh complete, Colonel Medhekar knew it would not be long before he was to retire. In 1972, the 4th Division moved back to Uttar Pradesh and settled in for garrison duty. On April 15, 1972, Colonel Amrit Medhekar officially retired from the Indian Army. He returned to Bombay as a civillian. Personal life In 1949, Amrit Medhekar married Aishwarya Vivaan Kumbhar. They had a traditional Brahma marriage, with Aishwarya's father approaching Amrit's in 1946 with a marriage proposal. It was delayed until 1949 due to Amrit's army service in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, but they had a sound and happy marriage with five children: Prakash, Kavita, Indira, Dheeraj, and Ramya, two sons and three daughters in all. In 1976, shortly after retiring from the army, Medhekar became a teacher at the Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehradun. He taught until his subsequent retirement in 1990. In 2001 he wrote a book on the Kargil War which was subsequently published by the college. On December 17, 2008, Amrit Jayant Medhekar passed away in a Bombay hospital at 91 years of age. He was cremated in Hindu tradition and his ashes were submerged in the Ganges River near the city of Varnasi in Uttar Pradesh. Views Medhekar did not consider politics seriously until after Indian independence. He subsequently became a supporter of the Indian National Congress, voting with the party in every election. He championed the party's policies of industrialization, religious and ethnic pluralism, and non-alignment during the Cold War. In 1971, he strongly supported Indian military intervention in the Bangladesh Liberation War and took a hard-line stance against Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil War. Although a Hindu, Medhekar strongly disliked Hindu nationalism, having seen what ethnic and religious hatred could do during the partition of Punjab in 1947. Equipment As a soldier of the British Empire on the North-West Frontier and in World War II, Medhekar used the bolt-action Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III* rifle, the Webley Mk.VI revolver, and the Mills No. 36M Mk.I grenade. He used these weapons in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, and Aksai Chin. In 1963, he switched to a 1A1 self-loading rifle, a copy of the British L1A1 manufactured by Rifle Factory Ishapore, which he used in Jammu and Kashmir in 1965 and Bangladesh in 1971.Category:Soldiers in World War II Category:Soldiers in the First Indo-Pakistani War Category:Soldiers in the Annexation of Goa Category:Soldiers in the Sino-Indian War Category:Soldiers in the Second Indo-Pakistani War Category:Soldiers in the Third Indo-Pakistani War Category:Indian soldiers Category:British Commonwealth soldiers